Information-medium sleeve and process for manufacturing it

ABSTRACT

Sleeve intended to be placed around a container, such as a can or the like, in order to constitute an information medium and formed by a body made of a plastic sheet which is shaped in order to fit on the perimeter of the container and capable of taking printing, wherein at least two flap-forming parts (7, 8) are fixed to the sleeve body (6) by a fixing mechanism (5), each by a first edge parallel to the generatrix of the body (6), and extending so as to be able to end up covering all or part of the sleeve body (6), and wherein at least one of the faces of the flap-forming parts is also capable of taking or displaying printing.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/409,982 filed Mar. 24,1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,016.

The present invention relates to sleeves intended to be placed around acontainer such as a can or the like, in order to constitute aninformation medium. These sleeves are generally formed from a body madeof a sheet of plastic which is shaped in order to fit on the perimeterof the container, for example having a cylindrical shape. This meansthat the body of the sleeve is formed before mounting it on thecontainer, around which it may be fitted by stretching, for example. Thepresent invention also relates to a process for manufacturing sleeves ofthis type.

These sleeves have the drawback of presenting a limited area fordisplaying the information concerning the product contained in thecontainer. This is particularly true in the field of phytosanitaryproducts delivered in powder form or in liquid form in cans, where, forreasons of legislation, the manufacturers are obliged to provide everincreasing amounts of information.

This is why the use has developed, in this field, of complementaryinformation means of the adhesive pocket type, into which pocket isinserted a complementary leaflet that the manufacturer affixes to theactual sleeve. The risks of these pockets being torn off while thesecans are being transported and handled and of the complementary leafletbeing lost after consultation are the main drawbacks thereof.

In the field of paper labels, it had indeed been proposed in the Fiftiesto add a detachable extra panel (French Patent FR-A-1,043,230).

Hitherto, a plastic sleeve with a large information display area had,however, never been proposed. In any event, the greatest difficultywould have been to conceive an embodiment allowing manufacture withcosts acceptable in industry.

The object of the present invention is therefore to remedy the drawbacksof the sleeves of the prior art, by providing a sleeve possessing aninformation display area which is greatly increased compared to theconventional sleeves, especially by 100 to 400%, while still satisfyingan essential condition which is not to significantly increase themanufacturing cost compared to conventional sleeves.

Another object of the invention is to propose a simple and rapid processfor continuously manufacturing these sleeves from a reel of plastic filmor sheet, which process can be entirely automated.

Another object of the invention is also to propose such a process whichcan be implemented even within the context of sleeves intended to havesmall, or indeed very small, mediums.

Yet another object of the invention is to propose such a sleeve whichcan, easily and with lower cost, be modified in many variants.

The subject of the present invention is thus a sleeve intended to beplaced around a container, such as a can or the like, in order toconstitute an information medium and formed by a body made of a plasticsheet which is shaped in order to fit on the perimeter of the containerand capable of taking printing, wherein at least two flap-forming partsare fixed to the sleeve body by a fixing means, each by a first edgeparallel to the generatrix of said body, and extend so as to be able toend up covering all or part of the sleeve body, and wherein at least oneof the faces of the flap-forming parts is also capable of taking ordisplaying printing.

The invention especially allows this sleeve to be designed and producedfrom a single sheet of plastic, without having to cut the latter and toattach and fix the various elements constituting the sleeve, this beingvery advantageous as regards the production costs which must be keptvery low in order to allow it to be actually exploited industrially.

It is therefore preferable that the entire sleeve, with all itsflap-forming parts and regardless of how many of them there are, beformed from one and the same sheet of plastic.

This construction is, in particular, made possible by virtue of the veryadvantageous characteristic which consists of the fact that theflap-forming parts are connected in pairs to the sleeve body by the samefixing means, this resulting, as regards the manufacturing process, inperforming, in a single pass, a fixing operation common to the twoflap-forming parts.

While still remaining in particular within the scope of a constructionmade from just one single sheet of plastic, it is possible to designextra flap-forming parts. In particular, the invention provides, veryadvantageously, two types of variation in the sleeve, which mayfurthermore be combined together, and with characteristics alreadydescribed, namely, on the one hand, a type in which flap-forming partsare connected separately to the sleeve body at points diametricallyopposite each other with respect to the sleeve body and, on the otherhand, a type in which flap-forming parts are fixed together one afterthe other, one of them also being fixed to the sleeve body. Theadvantage is further increased by the fact that each flap-forming partcan very advantageously be formed from two sheet parts which can stillcome from the same initial sheet of plastic. Two sheet parts, whichcorrespond, form a double panel. The invention also provides for the twoedges of these panels, parallel to the generatrix of the sleeve body, tobe able to be fastened together by fixing means. In particular, this mayinvolve edges joined to the sleeve body or to other flap-forming parts,or else free edges which are not joined to other constituent elements ofthe sleeve. Depending on the terms of the invention, a double panelclosed at its two edges parallel to the generatrix constitutes a singleflap-forming part.

A particular embodiment provides for at least some of the flap-formingparts to be able to be entirely detachable, by virtue of the presence ofat least one prescore line extending substantially parallel to thefolding line and in the vicinity of a fixing means or on this means.Thus, two flap-forming parts of the same double panel may beindividually or conjointly detachable depending on whether the prescoreline is made in the fixing means, in particular a weld zone, or whetheron the contrary there is a closed double panel. It is therefore alsopossible to detach such a double panel, leaving it closed at its twoopposite edges. Likewise, in the case where the sleeve includes morethan one pair of flap-forming parts (that is to say more than one doublepanel), one or more or all of them may be rendered detachable. All thesecombinations are allowed.

The sleeve may further include joining means for removably connectingthe sleeve body to the free edge, parallel to the generatrix of saidbody, of the two flap-forming parts, this means enabling, or otherwise,to make more than one join between these parts and the sleeve body. Thismay, for example, by a releasable adhesive which can be used one or moretimes.

Instead of such a joining means, it is possible to choose to use aso-called fixing means, in the sense of the invention, that is to sayone which precludes release but with which is associated a prescore linemade in the flap-forming parts.

In all cases where fixing between parts of a sheet is referred to, thisfixing is preferably a weld.

The subject of the invention is also a process for manufacturing suchsleeves from one and the same sheet of plastic, which can be carried outcontinuously and in an entirely automated manner, the sheet or film ofplastic being able to be drawn from a reel.

In the process in accordance with the invention, preferably startingfrom a preprinted sheet, this sheet is folded on itself along a foldingline, thus forming two superposed parts of the sheet, and these twoparts of the sheet are fastened together along at least one fasteningzone which extends substantially parallel to the folding line. Thus,with one fastening zone, a sleeve body will be obtained which isdelimited by the folding line and the fastening zone and which isequipped with two flap-forming parts which can also be called an opendouble panel. It is understood that there is complete freedom in thechoice of the point of the fastening zone. If two fastening zones areproduced, one double panel, open at one of its edges parallel to thegeneratrix, and two double panels closed at the two edges (withreference to the edges parallel to the generatrix of the sleeve body)will be obtained, one by the two fastening zones and the other by onefastening zone and by the folding line. Either one of these two closeddouble panels will be able to be chosen to form the sleeve body. For thevarious steps in folding and in forming fastening zones, the work willpreferably be per half, third, quarter, etc., with reference to thesheet initially folded on itself.

On this basis, the process will also be able to possibly provide acutting operation dispensing with the folding line, converting theclosed double panel into a panel with two free parts (open doublepanel). Conversely, it will also be possible to produce a fastening zonefor fastening the edges of the parts forming an open double panel.

Preferably, the fastening zones are produced by welding. The fasteningzones may be chosen to be wide enough to make it possible to producetherein, in a convenient manner, a prescore line so that detaching thedouble flap does not involve unfastening the corresponding edges of thispanel.

After having produced the fastening zones, the various parts forming thesleeve (the sleeve body and the open or closed double panels) are foldedback and a removable adhesion means is affixed in order to keep thesleeve in the closed position.

The invention will now be described in more detail with the aid ofembodiments of sleeves according to the invention, these being describedhereinbelow in conjunction with their manufacturing processes inaccordance with the invention and with the appended drawing in whichFIGS. 1 to 8 show diagrammatically the manufacturing steps leading, eachtime, to a sleeve in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 1 to 4 depict, in side view, the steps leading to sleeves whichinclude two flap-forming parts with free edges, this forming an opendouble panel.

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict, in side view, the steps leading to sleeves whichinclude one closed double panel and one open double panel.

FIGS. 7 and 8 depict, in side view, the steps leading to sleeves whichinclude two open double panels.

In all cases, the starting material is a single sheet of plastic,indicated by the numerical reference 1. The first step consists, as maybe seen in FIGS. 1 to 8, in an operation of folding or folding over, inorder to fold a sheet 1 approximately into two, along a first foldingline 2, so that one, 3, of the two free edges 3 and 4 opposite thisfolding line 2 is slightly set back with respect to the other 4.

In FIG. 1, a welding pass is next performed so as to weld the twosuperposed parts of the sheet 1 together along a weld zone 5 essentiallyparallel to the folding line 2 and lying approximately halfway along thelength of the folded sheet. In this way, the sleeve body proper,numerical reference 6, formed by those parts of the sheet which aredelimited by the folding line 2 and the weld zone 5 is obtained togetherwith two panels 7 and 8 whose free ends are the edges respectivelyreferenced 3 and 4. These two panels are then folded back onto thesleeve body in such a way that the panel 8, whose length is slightlygreater than that of the panel 7, is on the outside. An adhesive means9, permitting multiple releasing/rebonding operations, lies between thepanel 8 and the sleeve body 6, in the vicinity of the folding line 2.This adhesive means 9 may be put into place in any manner known to thespecialist.

FIG. 2 shows a variant of the process of FIG. 1. The panels 7 and 8 arefolded back differently, so that it is the shorter panel 7 which lies onthe outside. An adhesive tape 11 is then used to join up the edges 3 and4 to the sleeve body 6, in the vicinity of the folding line 2.

In FIG. 3, after the folding or folding-over operation as in FIGS. 1 and2, the work is carried out per third, the weld zone 5 being producedapproximately one third the way along the length of the folded sheet 1,taken from the folding line 2. In this way, two long panels 12 and 13are obtained together with the sleeve body 6 which, similar topreviously, is then folded back onto the panels 12, 13, or moreprecisely onto the panel 12, the shorter one. Next, the remaining partof these panels are folded back onto the sleeve body, the panel 12 stillbeing, in this case, the one which is on the side facing the sleevebody. Here too, there is also an adhesive means 9 between the panel 13and the sleeve body, but in this case in the vicinity of the weld zone5, in order to keep the panels in the closed position.

FIG. 4 shows a variant of the process of FIG. 3, in which the sleevebody, which has just been formed, is folded back on the side of thepanel 13, the longer one. At the end of the process, the situation isonce again as in FIG. 2, in which the panels are kept in the closedposition with the aid of an adhesive tape 11 covering the correspondingedge of each of the panels and terminating, in this case, in thevicinity of the weld zone 5.

In FIG. 5, the sheet 1 is firstly folded, as previously, so as to end upwith two parts of the sheet, one of which is slightly shorter than theother. Two weld zones 14 and 15 are produced simultaneously so as todivide the folded sheet 1 substantially into three. The sleeve body 6may correspond, as desired, to the part 16 delimited by the folding line2 and the nearer weld zone 14 or the central part 17 delimited by bothweld zones 14 and 15. In FIG. 5, the first solution has been chosen, sothat the sleeve body 6 is extended by the part 17 forming a closeddouble panel which is itself extended by the two free panels 18 and 19,the panel 18 being the shorter one as with the panel 12 of the precedingembodiments.

In the remainder of the process, the sleeve body 6 is folded back ontothe part 17 and then the panels 18 and 19 are folded back onto thesleeve body 6, the panel 18 lying on the sleeve body side, but on theopposite side from the part 17 with respect to the latter.

An adhesive means 9 is provided as previously.

FIG. 6 corresponds to the variant of the process and of the sleeve ofFIG. 5, in which the panel 19 faces the part 16, in this case the sleevebody 6, and an adhesive tape 11 is put into place.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are variants of the processes and sleeves described inrelation to FIGS. 5 and 6. In this case, after the operation of foldingor folding over the sheet 1, the folding line 2 is removed by cutting,so as to lead, at the end of the process, to a sleeve being obtained inwhich the sleeve body 6 corresponds to the central part 17 and has twosets of two panels 18, 19 and 20, 21 (open double panels) connected inpairs and to the sleeve body 6 by the respective weld zones 15 and 14.It should be noted that the panels 20 and 21 have the same dimensionsand end up being interposed between the sleeve body 6 and the panels 18,19 in the finished sleeve.

In order to use these sleeves, it is preferable to start with a sheet orfilm of stretchable polyethylene, the working faces of which have beenprinted beforehand after an appropriate surface treatment. The insideand/or outside surface of the sleeve bodies 6 is printed, as are thesingle panels 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 and 21 and the surfaces of theclosed double panels 16 or 17. Printed matter on an inside surface ofthe sleeve body or on a panel can be read through the material.

By prescoring, it is possible to produce sleeves equipped withflap-forming parts which can be detached or with a combination ofdetachable parts and non-detachable parts. The necessary operations maybe completely incorporated in the methods of carrying out the processwhich have just been described. The process retains its advantageouscharacteristics in terms of speed and of low manufacturing cost and interms of continuous and automatic working.

The prescoring may be produced on the unfolded sheet 1, but preferablyon this sheet when folded during the so-called first folding orfolding-over operation. It may involve one or both parts of a sheet ofan open or closed double panel and/or either just one or more than oneor all of the panels.

The adhesion means 9 and 11 may be replaced by other removableattachment means, for example by a combined prescoring/welding means. Inthis latter case, the parts of the sheet forming the panels preferablyhave substantially equal dimensions. Prescoring is produced along thefree edges, for example 3 and 4 (FIG. 1). After having folded back thepanels 7 and 8 (having the same dimensions in this case) onto the sleevebody 6, a welding operation (possibly combined with a weld edge cut) iscarried out so as to weld together the edges 3 and 4 and the region ofthe folding line 2.

The plastic constituting the sleeves in accordance with the inventionmay in particular be stretchable polyethylene. The faces taking theprinting may have been able to have been treated, for example using acorona-type treatment, in order to allow this printing. It will be easyto install the finished sleeves by a stretching operation.

The process is conducted continuously and entirely automatically,starting from a reel of preprinted sheet, and enables these improvedsleeves to be produced easily, rapidly and inexpensively.

Needless to say the person skilled in the art may, without departingfrom the scope of the invention, envisage developments as regards boththe number of panels and their type.

I claim:
 1. A process for manufacturing sleeves which are placed arounda container having a perimeter in order to constitute an informationmedium comprising the steps of:folding a preprinted sheet of plastic onitself along a folding line, thus forming two superposed parts of thesheet; and fastening these two parts of the sheet together along atleast one fastening zone which extends substantially parallel to thefolding line whereby there is produced (a) a sleeve body which istubular in order to encompass the perimeter of the container, and (b)first and second flap-forming parts, each flap-forming part having afirst edge and at least one face, each said first edge of the first andsecond flap-forming parts being fixed to the sleeve body such that thefirst edges are parallel to a generatrix of the sleeve body and suchthat the first and second flap-forming parts extend along the sleevebody and hence cover at least a portion of the sleeve body.
 2. A processfor manufacturing sleeves as claimed in claim 1 wherein said fasteningstep produces the fastening zone at a point midway along the foldedsheet from the folding line.
 3. A process for manufacturing sleeves asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said fastening step produces the fasteningzone at a point one third of a way along the folded sheet from thefolding line.
 4. A process for manufacturing sleeves as claimed in claim1 wherein said fastening step includes the steps of forming at least twoof the fastening zones such that at least a third flap-forming part isformed.
 5. A process for manufacturing sleeves as claimed in claim 4wherein all of the fastening zones formed divide the folded sheet intoparts of substantially equal size.
 6. A process for manufacturingsleeves as claimed in claim 4 and further including the steps of foldingthe first, second and third flap-forming parts over one another andapplying a removable adhesive to a free end of an outermost one of theflap-forming parts to attach the free end to the sleeve in order to keepall of flap-forming parts against the sleeve.
 7. A process formanufacturing sleeves as claimed in claim 4 and further including thestep of cutting away of the folding line such that the sleeve body isformed between two of the fastening zones.
 8. A process formanufacturing sleeves as claimed in claim 1 wherein said fastening stepincludes the step of welding the two parts together to form thefastening zone.
 9. A process for manufacturing sleeves as claimed inclaim 1 and further including the step of forming prescore linesparallel to the folding line in at least one of the flap-forming partsso that the one of the flap-forming parts is detachable from a remainderof the sleeve.
 10. A process for manufacturing sleeves as claimed inclaim 1 and further including the step of forming prescore linesparallel to the folding line in the at least one fastening zone so thatat least one of the flap-forming parts is detachable from a remainder ofthe sleeve.